Applications of high-speed electron-beam testing in solid-state electronics

Abstract

Abstract A high-speed electron-beam tester was developed to measure signals inside integrated high-frequency circuits, in particular those on a GaAs basis. This paper describes the current stage of development. Using electron beam pulses down to only 7 ps makes the tester capable of measurements at frequencies of approx. 60 GHz. Simultaneously a probe diameter of 0.5 μm and a noise voltage at the system output of 2 mV/√Hz are achieved at 2.2 keV acceleration voltage and 1 GHz pulse repetition rate. To meet practical demands a wafer prober was designed extending the application of the tester to on-wafer measurements. A GaAs 1k SRAM is used by way of example to demonstrate the possibilities for practical applications. Extending into the ps range, the high temporal resolution of the tester leads to a detailed comparison between calculated and measured signals. While allowing verifacation of the parameters used for simulation, this also yields useful hints on measures for redesigning the circuit.